How the Other Half Lives
by Gen. Darkcat
Summary: Krystal is struggling internally. No matter how much she tries to hide it, Fox can tell. So why won't she let him help her when he tries to? Can Krystal solve her dilemma? Will Fox be able to aid her...or is he the problem?
1. The Feeling of Despair

Disclaimer: Like before, I do not own Star Fox, th Ocs are mine, and Cell Block Tango is not mine although I wish it were. Star Fox in Nintendo's, and Cell Block Tango belongs to Chicago (the band).

Chapter 1: The Feeling of Despair

Krystal sighed. It had been so busy on the Great Fox lately and now that she had time to think, all she could think about was home. Her home, her real home, Cenaria. She sighed again and closed her eyes. How longed to be there, there with her people, her friends, and her family. It wasn't like she didn't love her new friends and that she wasn't grateful for what they had done for her. Quite the opposite in fact; she loved them all so much that she wished she had never met them. That way, when they found out about her culture, she wouldn't be devastated when they decided that she was just too different, just too weird.

'Oh Fox,' she thought. 'If only I could tell you what Cenaria was like…'

Fox McCloud was genuinely worried. Ever since things had slowed down, Krystal had become more withdrawn. Sometimes she would even miss meals. He feverishly hoped that whatever was wrong would be resolved soon; he missed the cheerful personality that Krystal usually had, her ability to find the silver lining in everything made his life that was once filled with crises his life that was now filled with problems with hope. Besides, the sooner she cheered up, the sooner he could maybe actually tell her how he felt about her.

'Krystal, if only I could tell you how I feel.'

Finally, he found her; gazing out of the window in her room, nervously fingering her staff.

"Hey Krystal, is everything alright?" Fox asked

Her forlorn face said it all; she was sad. It made Fox's heart melt to see her so upset. When she spoke, the words were laden with unease and unhappiness, making him feel like crying.

"Hey Krystal, is everything alright" a voice asked

Krystal turned around. There stood Fox, she could see the concern etched onto his face. Although she wanted to cry, she only turned to him and said,

"It's okay, Fox. Everything's fine."

He wasn't convinced.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "Krystal, if something's wrong, I'd like to know. You know that I'm here for you if you need me, right?" he offered sincerely.

This made Krystal want to cry even more. He was so sincere, so thoughtful, and so caring. It pained her to know that she couldn't share her feelings with him.

"It's okay Fox, really I'm fine." was all she said.

Fox frowned, still not convinced.

"Well if you say so than I believe you. Come and eat, Peppy's cooking tonight, so you don't have to worry about any overcooked food." he joked

A week ago, they had decided to take turns cooking. The first two nights went well, as it was that Krystal and Peppy were actually able to cook. When third night came around however, it was a disaster. It was Fox's turn to cook and he had decided to try and grill hamburgers for the team. Whistling while he worked, Fox put the meat on and went about the preparation. While he was cooking, Falco, managed to break the TV, the elevator, and whole bunch of other things. Unfortunately, Slippy was in the elevator at the time when it broke. Fox busy in the kitchen rushed out when he heard a series of crashes. Slippy, having just got out of the elevator was busy throwing a temper tantrum, throwing all sorts of tools at Falco, yelling at him for being such a klutz. This led to even more arguing and screaming until Krystal interrupted them when she smelled smoke. Running back to the kitchen, the group arrived just in time to see the burgers crumble away into bits of burnt ash. That night for dinner, the team had leftover lasagna in portions that weren't even big enough for an anorexic poodle. Needless to say, both Fox and Falco were banned from the cooking lineup.

At the memory of this, Krystal couldn't help but giggle, temporarily forgetting her dilemma.

Fox smiled; he had been able to make her laugh. He had missed her laugh.

"There's the Krystal I know." he said as the two walked off to dinner.

'And adore.' he thought to himself.

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A/N: Sorry the line tool STILL is not freakin' working and I didn't want to put something else to seperate the paragraphs. Anyways, I know I keep mentioning Cell Block Tango, but it's not utterly neccesary for you to hear it before reading this. It's merely where my inspiration came from. As usual, please review and offer any grammer and spelling help you can. I have many chapters that I need to proofread and I don't always catch my mistakes. Thanks! Enjoy!


	2. The Caller

Chapter 2: The Caller

"Slippy, turn down that music already, it's getting on my nerves!" Peppy shouted to the amphibian, trying to make his cracked and aging voice be heard over the loud tunes that were blaring from the junky old jukebox stashed in a corner.

Grumbling, Slippy picked up a random tool from his nearby toolbox and chucked it at the music player, which in turn sputtered to a stop.

"Oh man Slip, why'd you have to go and break it?" Fox groaned

"Relax Fox, it's not like there won't be time to fix it." Falco said. "There haven't been any jobs available in months. I doubt we'll be getting any soon."

As if on cue, the communicator beeped signaling a call. Sure enough, General Pepper of the Cornerian Army appeared on the screen.

"Fox, it's good to see you again." the general greeted

"Good to see you too, General. What's the call of duty this time?" Fox asked

The general chuckled, "Still the same Fox, quick and to the point. Very well, it's not much, but I'm guessing that there's not much else going on. Not too far from where you are, is a newly discovered system. A planet has been spotted and researchers are certain that there are plenty more. I was going to ask Peppy to map the system for us and I figured since you're already there, you could 'escort' him."

"Sounds good. We'll do it, General!" Fox claimed

"Good, right now as we speak, a payment sum is being debated and I'll let you know what is decided." Pepper informed him before the link broke.

A few hours later, the team could finally make out the outline of a blue planet in the distance. The planet wasn't too big, had a bluish-greenish tinge to it, and many clouds could be seen in the atmosphere.

Fox gasped. The planet was beautiful, in a mysterious sort of way. For some reason, it reminded him of someone he knew, although he couldn't figure out whom or why. He cast a quick glance at Krystal, curios of her reaction. She stood there frowning, deeply disturbed or so it seemed. Fox slowly walked over to her determined to find out what was wrong once and for all.

"Krys, is something wrong?"

Fox's voice shattered her contemplation. She looked up at him and noticed that the look of concern had crept back into his features. Sighing, she nodded,

"No, I'm alright. It's just for some reason that planet looks so familiar, yet I have no idea what it could be."

At that moment, ROB's voice interrupted them.

"Unknown persons attempting to create contact. Permission to accept?" he questioned

"Granted." Fox replied

Once the link had been established, the team was greeted by a green furred fox. He was dressed in a manner that reminded Fox of Krystal when he first met her. The fox was clad in a loincloth of similar fabric, dyed with the colors of the rainbow; he wore armor styled the same way as Krystal's which he wore on his hind legs and arms as well as on his chest; these too were colored like a rainbow. Dangling from a chain around his head, hung a pendent with strange symbols on it. Calmly, he spoke first.

"Huh? I'm sorry but could you repeat that in English please?" Fox asked.

The caller had spoken in a language that Fox swore he didn't know, but yet it seemed so familiar as well. Behind him, he heard a gasp that sounded like it came from Krystal. The new fox spoke again,

"Oh dear so sorry, anyways, I'm only here to ask you your business, name, and…" he trailed off when his gaze landed on Krystal. His eyes widened and his jaw nearly dropped open in shock.

"By the Grace of the Six Merry Murderesses," he gasped, "Krystal, you're alive!"


	3. Invitation

Chapter 3: Invitation

"Jade?" Krystal squeaked

"Krystal, I can't believe it's you!"

Krystal's head was spinning, this was impossible. Ceneria had blown up; she had seen it herself. And yet, here Jade was alive and well; he was just as she remembered him. Her heart beat faster in amazement; than she could feel it tear apart in her chest. On the one hand, it was like a dream come true to find another one of her kind, another Cenarian. But than if it was true, it would mean that eventually she'd have to tell the rest of the team about her heritage, something she was thoroughly dreading. Her resolve was to first find out how Jade had survived.

"Jade, how'd you survive? Cenaria blew up, I saw the explosion! What happened?" Krystal cried

The male Cenarian grinned, "Cenaria didn't blow up."

"What! Than what happened?"

"It was pushed." he stated simply. "You are right in thinking you saw an explosion, you did. What happened was after your ship was launched, the Rainbow Guard launched a craft to follow you when you made the journey to Cauria. After launching though, the ship malfunctioned and exploded. Because the Guardsmen ship was fueled by Cenarian power stones, the explosion was massive, causing the force to be strong enough to move Ceneria to where it is today."

"You mean to tell me that all this time when I thought I was the sole survivor and the only Cenarian alive, everyone else, all of our friends and family were still actually alive?" Krystal slowly whispered. She could feel her voice starting to crack and tears threatened to turn her cerulean eyes into lakes that would support a roaring waterfall of emotions let loose.

Fox wasn't a telepath of any kind, nor did he have psychic abilities. Still, he could sense her distraught and without hesitating, he put his arms around her and drew her into a consoling embrace. A minute or two passed before he even realized what he was doing. He looked down startled to find that he had brought her so close, and even more surprised that she was not making any effort to release herself from his grasp. Blushing, he loosened his hold on her, but not without regrets did he let go of her all together. He turned to the green fox angrily.

'How dare he upset her like this?' he thought to himself. Out loud, his only response was to question his honesty.

"How do we know for sure that what you are saying is the truth? Why should we trust you?" Fox asked

Krystal snapped out of her day dreamish state at Fox's words, reassuring him that Jade was if not telling the truth, at least a Cenarian. Right then though, she didn't care whether Jade was being truthful or not; she was still in too much of a shock to care. First, she meets Jade again in what had to be at least eight years, maybe more, and secondly, Fox had hugged her! He had cared enough to show emotion in front of the rest of the team. Sure he had shown care in front of Peppy before; he was like a second father to Fox though. Rarely did he show care in front of Slippy, and he never showed that he cared in front of Falco or strangers, yet he had just hugged her in front of Jade! While Jade was no stranger to Krystal, Fox didn't even know the green Cenarian at all. This filled her with hope and despair; hope that he liked her and despair that even if he liked her now, after a few Cenarian history lessons, those feelings would be non-existent.

'Enjoy his love however small it may be while you can.' Krystal advised herself

"Well than, if everything is alright between parties, I say that we all land and get to know each other a bit more." Jade suggested. Unaware that the crew of Star Fox knew nothing about Krystal's heritage he made another suggestion,

"I'm sure Krystal will want to have you stay for a bit. Why, you're just in luck, too. You're just in time for Carinosiva! The festivities begin tomorrow!" Jade claimed excitedly.

"Cari-what?" Falco asked

Jade looked confused, "Krystal, you did tell them about Cenaria, right?"

"Yes, but not that much." she admitted.

"Well than all the more reason to spend the next week or so here." Jade said. "I'll meet you down on the planet."

The link broke and Krystal watched Jade's ship show them the way. All she could think about was how much the team would hate her after a week was over.


	4. Jealousy

Chapter 4: Jealousy

Krystal looked around. Nothing about the landscape had changed and the climate was the usual, warm but not too warm with a nice breeze to cool you down. Unfortunately for the rest of the team, they did not have the luxury of the chance to bring a change of cloths that would match these conditions. So as soon as she had greeted Jade in person, they opted to go see her parents so that they could all change into the appropriate attire. When they reached the palace gates, Jade went in first to inform her parents of their arrival. Her former home hadn't changed much either. The 'palace' wasn't really a palace at all. It was more like a giant gated community where most of the buildings were governmental offices. In the middle of the complex square stood a tall building, sort of like an enlarged beach house; that was where her parents lived. Krystal came out of her daydream when Jade came back to escort them in. She became nervous, wondering what her parents would think of what she had been doing recently and whether they would approve her living with Fox and the team. The blue princesses wasn't the only that was nervous. Fox had never felt this much apprehension before in his whole life, not even when facing Andross. He wondered what Krystal's parents would think of him; would two planetary leaders approve of their only daughter spending time with a mercenary and his crew, a band of guns-for-hire? Both foxes took a deep breath before entering the room where they would come face to face with those two people who would impact them both so much.

The throne room, more widely known as the conference room, was exactly as Krystal remembered it. Sapphire blue stones lined the floor while the walls were colored by a light aqua and adorned by the occasional work of art. Against the wall in front of them, were two high-backed, throne-like chairs; above them, the Royal Families tapestries hung, each one telling of the great and not so great deeds done by those who have ruled the land throughout history. To Krystal however, what sat in those seats interested her the most. On the left sat an older looking fox; dark blue fur covered his body, his clothes were like Jade's and Krystal's, a gold chest plate and gold shoulder amour along with a creulean blue loincloth and sandals. To his right, sat an extremely beautiful vixen; light blue fur and sparkling eyes, she was like an older version of Krystal, dressed exactly alike, too. There they were, after so many years of mourning, there they were; King Azure and Queen Emerald of Cenaria, Krystal's parents.

"Krystal, my girl, you're home!" King Azure cried out in joy as he rose and came forward, greeting her in a giant hug. The queen followed suite. Standing back up, the queen noticed the foursome behind her.

"Well, and who may your new friends be?" she asked

"Mother, these are my dear friends: Slippy, Peppy, Falco, and Fox." Krystal introduced them pointing to each on as she said their names

Fox could barely breathe when Krystal began to introduce them to her parents. What would they think of him? Would they approve of her being friends with a Lylatian? And would they like him? Krystal finished the introductions and the queen smiled. She momentarily gazed at the team, her eyes gracefully traveling over the men, studying them. When her gaze reached Fox, she paused and cocked her head slightly to one side, her delicate lips forming a wide smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Emerald greeted them. "Won't you stay for a while? We would love a chance to get to know all of you better and I am sure Krystal would want you to meet her Cenarian friends."

Fox cast a glance at Peppy who gave him a nod of approval. Than he turned to face Krystal, she pleaded for him to accept with her eyes, he made his decision.

"If Krystal feels that way, than we would love to stay." he answered

When Fox gave his answer, Krystal felt a blast of emotions slam her like the weight of gravity would when entering a planet's atmosphere if not for the g diffusers built into an arwing. A part of her was thrilled at the prospect of staying. She was dying to see her old friends and catch up on what was going on. But than, her age old fear of her new friends learning about her ancestry resurfaced; if they dropped her after learning about Cenaria, she would be heartbroken. Right now it looked like the dreaded would become a reality. They were staying and the next day was the biggest holiday in all of Cenaria. Whispering a quick prayer to the murderesses, she sped up to follow her parents to the guest rooms.

Fox looked around the room. He was amazed at how beautiful it was. The room was spacious, fitting a bed; a dresser; a mirror; a chair; and a bookcase. All this was arranged on a floor that was covered with pearl -white, plush carpet and surrounded by jade-green painted walls. Setting down his pack that he had retrieved from the Great Fox, Fox slipped out of the room to go search for the rest of his team.

While wandering, he bumped into Jade. Fox stammered his apology but Jade just grinned.

"Looking for Krystal aren't you?" he teased, causing Fox to be extremely grateful for orange fur, which hid his blushing very well.

Jade led the mercenary to a room with doors shut and locked. After knocking on the door and talking once again in what Fox assumed was the Cenarian language, Jade left Fox to wait in front of the doors. Soon, he heard the click of unlocking doors and Krystal's voice calling out, telling him that he could come in. Slowly, Fox entered the blue and silver room; inside Krystal sat on her bed with a not-too-happy look expression on her face. Fox's heart skipped a beat when he saw her; now dressed in her traditional top and loincloth, she was, to him at least, the essence of what defined beauty. Nervously, he sat down next to her and placed a paw on her shoulder.

Krystal looked up at him.

"Fox," she whispered, "You didn't have to stay. I could have always come back to visit alone."

Fox shook his head, "Nonsense, besides, it will be easier for Peppy to complete his maps here. Also, it's a holiday according to what I've heard. Don't worry Krys, I don't mind. I'm actually rather interested in learning about Cenaria."

"I guess…" she trailed off, looking down at her lap.

Fox became worried. Gingerly, he took her chin in his hands and lifted her eyes up to meet his gaze. To his surprise, he could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Krystal please, tell me what's wrong. Please." Fox begged

"Fox, I…it's just…well I…"Krystal stuttered, trying to think of something to say. Lucky for her, right at that moment, they heard a knock the door; Peppy had come to tell them tot come to dinner. Krystal jumped up, dried her tears, and hurried out of the room down to the dinning hall. Reluctantly, Fox had to give up his questioning for the time being and hurry after Krystal in order not to get lost.

'I hope she's not mad at me.' he thought

Dinner was different from anything Fox had ever seen. There were of course the things that don't change much from system to system, such as bread with spread and something he thought resembled mini egg. After that, the food became nearly unrecognizable. Two entrees were out on the table, one was some kind of meat Fox didn't recognize on top of vegetables and pasta that looked like a cross between angel hair and bowtie with a purple sauce. The second dish must have been for the vegetarians, sautéed vegetables and rice with a blue sauce. Each seat had two cups, a wine glass and a regular water glass; there were eight seats in all.

"Well than, it looks like everyone is here. Let's not hesitate to start." Azure stated as he sat down at the far end of the table, across from his wife. Peppy sat next to him and across from Jade, who had Krystal to his right. Across from her sat Fox and than Falco was next to him. Slippy took the last seat next to Krystal. Everything started out like a normal dinner until the wine glasses were filled; Fox, to be polite, let them fill his glass even though he rarely drank. The king and Peppy seemed to be in deep discussion as well as Krystal and Jade. Fox almost cringed when he saw the two Cenarians enjoying each others company. Quickly, he silently admonished himself, he shouldn't be jealous, yet he was. Deep in thought, Fox brought the wine glass to his lips and was about to take a sip when Jade spoke up.

"So Krystal, think you can handle the Bloodox wine after living in Lylat for so long?" he teased.

Krystal froze, "Bloodox wine? Fox don't!" she cursed as she glanced up just in time to see him take a drink of the Cenarian concoction. Without hesitation, she reached over the table and yanked the cup away from Fox, who sputtered in surprise.

"Krystal, what the heck?" Fox tried to ask as he choked on the warm liquid

"Who brought out the Bloodox wine?" she asked

The other Cenarians stared blankly for a moment and than their eyes widened in horror at what nearly happened.

"Oh my goodness," Krystal's mother gasped, "We're so sorry."

"Sorry? For what?" Fox questioned. This place was getting weirder by the minute.

"The Bloodox wine is…well, poisonous." King Azure said. "Bloodox wine comes from the Bloodox tree; found only on Cenaria, the sap is collected and than drunk. This has been done since the beginning of our people. However, the sap contains a chemical that is extremely deadly. When a Cenarian turns adolescent, the body starts to make a natural antidote, which is why we can drink the sap and not be affected."

"Oh…" Fox trailed off. 'Great, just great' he thought, 'First day, not even and I'm nearly poisoned.'

"Fox, I'm so sorry." Krystal whispered, feeling rather guilty

"It's okay, really I'm fine." he assured her

The group went back to eating and silence filled the room as tension grew.

Fox sat lost in thought. Mulling over the last few weeks, he wondered if that night's accidents could have any connection with Krystal's strange behavior.

'Although while poisonous wine may be a big deal, I don't see why she would get depressed over it, especially before she even knew Cenaria still existed. Dang it, why is she so upset?' he wondered

Nobody had spoken for quite a while and the silence was starting to make the dinning animals uncomfortable. In an effort to ease the atmosphere, Emerald broke the silence.

"So Krystal, how did you meet these gentlemen?"

"They saved my life." Krystal said

Fox blushed, "Not exactly." he said, trying to deny it and growing redder by the second.

"Stop it Fox. Yes you did. You are way too modest." Krystal protested

"They say modesty is the best policy, don't they?" Fox pointed out, still trying to hide his blushing.

"Honesty is the best policy, Fox. And if you're not going to be honest, than I'll tell the story." she claimed.

Fox couldn't find any excuses after that, so as she told the story as she saw fit, he tried his best to keep his cheeks from turning into a griddle when she praised him for the numerous things he had done. He cringed though when she revealed that they were in fact a mercenary team. His well trained eyes hunted the king's weathered face any signs of disproval, he saw none. The man only chuckled slightly and than continued listening to his daughter.

'Now why would he be laughing about his daughter hanging out with a mercenary team? Oh shit! How the hell could I have forgotten? They're all telepathic! Oh wonderful, I wonder if they know all of what I've been thinking…I hope not, Krystal would beat me black and blue for sure.'

"Well than, it looks like we owe you our thanks. Thanks to you, we have our daughter back with us, alive and well. You have our deepest and most profound gratitude." King Azure claimed

"Fox blushed for the umpteenth time that evening, "Sir, it wasn't anything really. I didn't really do that much."

"Nonsense, you did plenty. Besides, it's never really how much you do, but how well you complete the task at hand." Krystal's father corrected.

It was an hour after the group had finished eating. They had moved a couple rooms down and now they sat in a rather large lounge, fireplace roaring and swapping stories about one another's past. Krystal had finished telling her parents about Tricky when Fox finally got up the courage to ask the one question his friends had wanted to ask, but Peppy beat him to it.

"What exactly is Carinosiva? I'm afraid we've never heard of it before."

The queen looked surprised, "Krystal never told you? Well than, I suppose we'll just have to tell you now…"

_A long time ago, about four generations before Krystal's time there were two cultures in Cenaria. There were the Cenarians, us, and the Dino-Cenarians. Well during this time, the two groups were at war. The Dino-Cenarians did not like the Cenarians, their culture, or their ways. For the longest time, the Cenarians had been in control of a large portion of the planet, governing their people as they saw fit and for the most part, leaving the Dino-Cenarians alone. Cenarians had a distinct culture and among the things that the Dino-Cenarians did not like, aside from the fact that females played a large role in government and the economy and besides the fact that our creed says what is right is more important than loyalty, was our affiliation with magic. The Dino-Cenarians were a superstitious people. Therefore, they wanted to gain control and ban all magical practices as well as any other things that they saw as barbaric. It was about a decade after this fighting had started and it was a time of great need. The Dino-Cenarians had grown stronger, succeeding in gaining control of most of the land. The fighting had gotten bad lately; the Dino-Cenarians would accomplish their goal within the year. So it was that during this time, a decade after the war began, that the Cenarians would gain six saviors; six heroines who would change history. It was the first of the new month and a young, blue vixen named Lazulite arrives in Lillian City, running away from her home in the country side where Dino-Cenarians had taken over. The same day five other females, all alone as well ran to the same city to escape danger: Almandine, a red wolf; Tektites, a black lynx; Zoisite, a purple coyote; Diamond, a white lioness; and Jadeite, a green peacock. All six were unaware that the others were there in the city square when the Dino-Cenarians suddenly attacked. The square became a madhouse of panic. Rubble and debris flew everywhere as the attackers swept through. The six did their best to help save lives, and that's when they met, that's when their alliance formed, and that's when they decided to take action against the Dino-Cenarians. They set up a hideout in a deserted warehouse. Over the course of the next few months, the Dino-Cenarians got the surprise of their lives; their highest ranks were dropping like stones, all mysterious and surprising since each was in great health. Each died in a different way than the last, the only similarities between each case that could be found was that each man was currently 'dating' either a red wolf, a blue vixen, a purple coyote, a green peacock, a black lynx, or a white lioness. Also, each time they died their 'girlfriends' were nowhere to be found. They knew they were being tricked somehow, and they didn't like it. Meanwhile, Lazulite, Almandine, Zoisite, Diamond, and Jadeite were cooking up a final plan, before the big turn around in the war. Now known as the Six Merry Murderesses, they had made most of the necessary dents to the Dino-Cenarian army that were needed to turn the tide of the war. If they couldn't take out a desired enemy, than they would leave tips for the Cenarian army with detailed information about them, One day, the Murderesses met six males; Garnet, a green fox, Jasper, a red jackal, Slate, a silver falcon, Zircon, a blue otter, Jet, a black wolf, and Ivory, a whit cougar, who they befriended. The men helped them until one day they were captured by the Dino-Cenarians, who in turn for their lives and certain Dino-Cenarian luxuries would help them capture the six Merry Murderesses. All but Garnet truly meant it. Garnet was never truly comfortable with betraying them, but went along anyways because he didn't know what else to do. So with that, they set the Murderesses up. A few days before they are captured, the Six Merry Murderesses find out about the betrayal and set up their own plan to catch them in the act. On the day they are captured, Slate, Jasper, Zircon, Jet, and Ivory are murdered by the Six Merry Murderesses. Right before she is captured, Lazulite attempts to kill Garnet by poisoning his drink. The Dino-Cenarians save him though and congratulate him for getting the job done. He however, turns against them when he learns that they planned on hanging Lazulite and her followers and tries to save her in the realization that he was indeed in love with the vixen rebel. His plan fails and the Dino-Cenarians hang him for treason. While the Murderesses gave up their lives, in the end the Cenarians won the war with all the information which they had given the army, meaning their cause was not lost. After that, the Dino-Cenarians were either executed or banished off to Cauria. _

"…so every year, on the anniversary of their deaths, we celebrate the role they played in ensuring our freedom."

Krystal looked down, ashamed and in dread. There was no way Fox would like her now.

'At least he doesn't know who my great-great aunt is. Hewould really hate me than'

She tensed expecting the worst in the ways of responses from Fox, but she didn't get the chance to hear what he said because of Jade.

"Krystal, would you care to dance?" he asked as he reached out his paw and guided her gently to the open area away from the fireplace.

Slowly, he led her into the dance, a beat up old cassette player in the corner playing quietly, the lyrics barley audible. Krystal followed his lead, the intricate steps and patterns that were burned into her memory came flooding back to her as she performed with elegance and grace. Looking up, she saw Jade grinning happily. He whispered to her,

"Very nice. Hey Krys, you remember the school play we did, right?"

Krystal nodded, she remembered the time she and her childhood friends had put on a skit for a class project on Carinosiva. Her role had been the brave, young, and noble leader of the Six Merry Murderesses, Lazulite. Jade had been Garnet.

"Well," he continued, "I was wondering if you would like to play Lazulite again in the Rainbow Guards' enactment play?"

"Well…" Krystal hesitated, what would Fox think? "Are you in it?" she finally asked

"Yep, and as yours truly, Garnet again.' he smiled. "Please Krys"

They had stopped dancing by now. Krystal looked over at the rest of her team. Fox was completely oblivious, he was too busy talking to Falco to notice that she wasn't there anymore; everyone else had been watching the dancing pair though. It hurt her to think he hadn't noticed, although she didn't know how that could be related to his feelings.

She quickly agreed to be in the play, causing Jade to smile again. With an empty feeling settling inside of her, she announced she was going to sleep and walked off to her room. One by one, the group disassembled and went to catch some sleep.

Fox lay awake in bed that night. He was starting to regret coming down here, mainly because of Jade. Jealousy rose in him, it just was not fair. Krystal was the only one for him, he was sure of it. Right than though it looked like he wasn't for her. Mentally, he cursed himself, why hadn't he told her how he felt yet? Was he really that chicken? Than he imagined the possible responses, her accepting and loving him back didn't seem likely to him, after all, she had been avoiding him. The second one, her rejecting him and running off with Jade seemed way too realistic to the young fox making him shudder with despair. Why couldn't he just for once find happiness and love? He only had one thought as he drifted off to sleep.

'Jade, you are one lucky fox.'

A/N- Thanks for reading and reviewing (could that be a hint?). If you have any ideas of where you'd like to see this story go, than let me know. Also, I don't want this to be a sappy story so if you have any ideas on how to keep it from going in that direction. Thanks!


	5. Truth or Dare, Survival or Death?

**Disclaimer Notice: I do not own Cellblock Tango that belongs to whoever wrote it for the play Chicago. Note that the lyrics were changed around a bit in this chapter for story purposes.**

**A/N: Thanks to SF Ghost for the spelling corrections, although for whoever whants to know ahead of thime, Cauria IS NOT Sauria. Also the words, Jazkin, va, _Tipschitz, and __quang are all words that are supposed to be _Cerinian, I just made them up as I went. Jazkin is a mix of curse words, it's basically what you call someone if you really want to hurt them. Va is me, Tipschitz is something like 'it wasn't the brightest idea ever' or 'unfourtunatly'. Quang means something along the lines of calling some one an a$$ or a bastard. **

**Thanks to all that read! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5: Truth or Dare, Survival or Death?

Fox McCloud was momentarily surprised to wake up in a room other than his personal quarters on the Great Fox. He sat up slowly, yawning as the memories of the past day returned to him. Grimacing, he changed into his usual flight suit and combat boots, and than made his way around the relatively small palace until he located the rest of his team in what seemed to be a dancing room with wood floors and paneled walls painted white.

Standing next to Slippy, he let his eyes wander until he found what his friends were watching so intently. There was Krystal and Jade in the middle of the room dancing some sort of tango. His eyes were transfixed on the two dancers as they leapt across the floor. Suddenly from behind his back, Jade pulled out a short, thin dagger and held it high above Krystal, arm at the ready to give a fatal blow! Fox started to run forward in an attempt to save Krystal from harm, when an arm drew him back; it was Falco.

The concerned fox shot his feathered friend a look of disbelief who merely smirked at his reaction and nodded in the dancers' direction mentioning for Fox to continue watching.

Fox looked on as Krystal took the deadly object from Jade and chucked it across the room to the wall behind the green fox, where it landed in the center of a target that was hanging on the wall.

"What the heck are they doing?" Fox whispered to Falco

The avian smirked, "Dancing."

"That's not dancing, Falco! That's attempted murder!" Fox whispered back angrily as he saw some sort of projectile fly over Krystal's shoulder and into a basket beneath the target that was against the wall behind her.

"It's for the play, smart one." Falco replied

"What play?" Fox questioned

"The play Jade invited us to last night before he left. Geez Fox, don't you listen?"

Fox slightly remembered Jade saying something about a Carinosiva enactment that would take place that day. He wondered how dancing while trying to kill someone would fit into that. Curious, Fox continued to watch as the two other foxes repeated the pattern of: dance, pause, threaten the other with a weapon of some fashion, than have the other throw it across the room. This routine mad no sense until his ear caught the music playing softly in the background:

…**_They had it coming  
They had it coming  
They had it coming all along  
I didn't do it  
But if I'd done it_**

_**How could you tell me that I was wrong?**_

**_They had it coming_**  
_They had it coming_  
**_They had it coming_**  
_They had it coming_  
**_They had it coming_**  
_They took a flower_  
**_All along_**

_In its prime_  
**_I didn't do it_**  
_And then they used it_  
**_But if I'd done it_**  
_And they abused it_  
**_How could you tell me_**  
_It was a murder_  
_**That I was wrong?**  
But not a crime!_

The words sent involuntary shivers down his spine. He watched as Krystal and Jade finished up the dance; could this really be the Krystal he had come to know? The Krystal who would give mercy to even the lowest of scum?

'Fox stop it right now you hypocritical idiot! This probably relates to their Murderesses or something like that. Besides, how different is it really from your job? You're a freakin' mercenary for cryin' out loud! As long as she doesn't turn on you, you have no right to complain.' his conscience atoned

This made Fox feel guilty, berating Krystal like that. She deserved better. After all, she had done so much for him in all the years he had traveled with her, from saving him from any bogeys who were trying to take him out in combat to providing him with emotional support, giving him a morale boost whenever he needed it, taking away much of the mental anguish when he started reminiscing about his past. He vowed not to let anything he learned here manipulate his view of her without a firm and absolute reason. Her heart was caring, her intentions were pure, and no one could ask any more from her as far as he was concerned.

Without a doubt, this had to be the worst thing that Jade was capable of doing to her. When she had agreed to be in the play, her green friend had failed to mention who her partners in crime would be; Crimson and Citrine. Krystal felt only a tad guilty at the thoughts of anger that swam in her head. After going so long without seeing either of them, one would have thought she would be overjoyed to see them. Than again, not many people had gone through what she had, they had done some pretty spiteful things her and her friends before Krystal had gone missing. So, thanks to Jade's oh so overwhelming consideration, here she was standing in front of her old nemesis' hut much sooner than she would have liked.

"Aw come on Krys, she's not as bad as she used to be." Jade said, reading Krystal's thoughts

"You're not the one who had an arrowhead-snake in your pack, were you?" Krystal retorted.

Fox stood next to Krystal, once again lost in deep thought. For the third time he had implored her for information, why should she be so cheerless and dismal when she was back home, surrounded by her friends and family. Yet, once again, the young vixen would not enlighten him. Why must she be such an enigma? How was it that after so long she still maintained the same level of secrecy? To Fox, it was like every strand of fur held the answers to a secret about her and every time he plucked one and came across the solution to one question, another grew in its place while some other difficulty aroused to face him. He was beginning to wonder if it was such a good idea, coming to Cerinia. Not only had she continued to avoid him, her spirit seemed to be in more of a depression than before. Opening his mouth, he was about to ask her about this Crimson person when he was interrupted from a disturbance from the house.

**Crash!**

Fox heard the sound of shattering glass and a piercing scream filled the had been silence.

"And that would be…" Krystal began to muse, half in amusement and half in exasperation before she was cut off by a male voice.

"Crimson, what the heck…"

"Shut up!" shrieked the female responder.

"But…"

"I said shut up!"

"Great," Krystal muttered, "I hate keeping those two from killing each other!"

Inside, they found Jade attempting to convince a female red lynx to get of the male she was standing on like a wrestler, pinning their opponent flat to the floor.

"Crimson, settle down. It's not going to do you any good to kill him." Jade insisted, his tone of voice taking on a calming note.

"Ha! That's a laugh; of course it will do good, than nobody has to put up with this stinking, rotten, no-good, lying bastard.I swear Midnight, you've got Betrayer blood in you! You nasty, filthy, cheating, disingenuous, adulterous, two-timing Jazkin!" Crimson snarled, bitterly. She was infuriated beyond measure and Fox was afraid she would kill them all.

Krystal rolled her eyes; if she had doubts that she was home and not in some sort of crazy dream which she would wake up from back on the Great Fox, they were gone. No dream could imitate Crimson's bawling when she was outraged, her high-pitched screams were earsplitting. The pandemonium she would make was truly amazing and it would take what seemed like months just to get her to start to think rationally. For days, Crimson would storm around, yelling at anyone and everyone; when she got really pissed off, she would go around and in the middle of something, would randomly cite a line from the Six Merry Murderesses' Tango, a Carinosiva song, like she was doing now;

_**He had it coming. He had it coming.**_

_**He took a flower in its prime**_

_**And than he used it, and he abused it**_

_**It was a murder but not a crime!**_

Next, to make matters worse, Midnight began to yell at Crimson, which in turn only made her more aggravated. Finally, Krystal had enough,

"That's it! Crimson, Midnight, just shut up!"

"Krystal?" Midnight questioned

"I've had it with you two!" she yelped. Pointing to Crimson, she continued. "You are and always have been over-possessive, and you," she said now pointing to Midnight, "are a cheating, bastard liar! Now I don't know what happened this time, but I don't want to hear another word about it! Neither of you are going to drag me into this!" Huffing, she crossed her arms and stood defiantly, her glare penetrating the two exes.

"Still the little know-it –all, aren't you, Kryssie?" Crimson mocked before she waltzed out of the hut ahead of everyone else.

"Listen, Krys; thanks for saving my hide again. It's nice to see you back." Midnight told her. He leaned over and whispered, "Even if it is with a boyfriend other than va." With that, he sauntered out, pausing to give the baffled vixen a wink and a slight nod of the head in Fox's direction. He grinned an 'I know your secret and don't you deny it' grin as Krystal's initial reaction went from confusion to shock and embarrassment. She turned to threaten the male only to find him missing.

It was freaking him out, why was he the only one who didn't understand? The rest of his crew had managed to grasp the concepts of why things were the way they were here, while he was still trying to figure the basics. It was making him feel naïve and insignificant. To the pit of his stomach, it made him fell nauseous with guilt; if he truly cared for her the way which he had always told himself he did, than he should be learning about and understanding everything which was going on.

* * *

"Fox, I can't see anything!" Slippy griped for at least the third time in the past minute. In all due respect, the poor frog was at a disadvantage. There were very few amphibians in Cerinia, the few who were, the species were those whose height was above four feet and whose build was a bit larger. Therefore, the seats that were put in for the theater were somewhat unfitting for the small mechanic; his feet dangled a good foot and a half off the ground and he head came to about half way up the back of the chair. Thus, leaving Fox and Falco at the mercy of his moaning, the play hadn't even started and Fox could feel a headache coming on.

"Fox, what's going on? I still can't see!"

"Nothing!" Fox whispered heatedly, purely annoyed. "It hasn't started yet so would you please shut up already?"

Slippy quickly complied, not wanting to anger his vulpine captain any further figuring it to be a possibly fatal idea.

Now left alone to himself, McCloud focused his attention on the sights around him. The playhouse itself was shaped like a venn-diagram with triangles sticking out from the outer rim of the circle on the left. The same insignia was carved into the grand double doors at the back of the room.

The lights started to dim, and the crowd that had assembled instantaneously grew silent. Fox focused his attention on the stage before him and watched in growing interest as the story unfolded in front of his eyes. He continued to watch, entranced by the performers spectacular illustration of how the events of the past transpired and formed the culture that was now in practice to this day. The young Lylatian found himself putting him in the same position of war which was being reflected in the actor's and actresses' show. Eyes darted around, drinking up the elegant scenery of the Cerinian countryside; the beauty of the nature and wildlife was more alluring than anything he had ever seen in his life, besides Krystal of course.

The play went on and Fox found himself coming to, much to his immense relief, a better understanding of the part of culture he had been exposed to. He would be lying if he said he completely understood everything, but at least he felt he could begin to feel settled with what he knew so far. Than a thought posed itself that unsettled him further. Could Krystal be avoiding him because she was afraid or ashamed to admit that she was part of a culture which celebrated murderesses? It drove him crazy, Krystal had never before been afraid to admit to anything she had done, so why start now? Nothing made sense, nothing was right, and it seemed like there was nothing he could do about it. His mind than started wandering again, finding itself dreaming of first experiences with Krystal, first time he saw her, first time he heard her voice, first time he heard her voice by way of her mouth, first time he introduced her to the team, first time he ever actually had a honest to goodness conversation with her, first time they went into combat together…

_"You see Fox, we need your help." General Pepper was saying_

_"Affirmative!"_

_Behind him, Fox heard a feminine gasp. He turned around to see the newest Starfox member stock still, eyes widened in great horror, delicate hands clapped to her gaping mouth._

_"What's wrong?" he asked_

_The blue beauty made no sound for minutes until she finally found her voice,_

_"The pain, I…I can sense it. The death toll is already high and more are dying as we speak. E…every time someone d…dies I can feel it, i…it's awful!" her tone was one of distress and pain, her expression portrayed one of a person who had been sentenced to death by slow and excruciating torture. Than, it was mad. Her fur literally turned a deep shade of purple and her eyes lit up with fire in their centers._

_"They won't get away with this!" she shrieked, "If it's the last thing I do, I'll bring it to an end! We must do something!"_

_"You're right Lazulite, we must and I have the perfect plan on just how!" he replied_

Fox's head snapped forward, that wasn't what he had said, yet that was what he heard. Looking up at the ongoing play, he saw Krystal and Crimson along with four other females. They were pledging their alliance to their cause and with regret, Fox realized that he had missed the first half of the play. Focusing once again on the acting, he gave his full attention to the account of their plots; their murder plots to be exact. It was quite an impressive list, the general of the opponent's main army, the opponents' head decoder, captain of the spies, etc. Last on the list, the Betrayers, Garnet, Jasper, Slate, Jet, Ivory, and Zircon. The play led on to show how they met, showing the inner complications of Garnet after pledging alliance with the Dino-Cenarians artistically, making Fox turn red with jealousy. Both Krystal and Jade as Lazulite and Garnet were very loving towards one another, their acting though was making it seem as if it were no act, just merely their natural response towards one another.

'It's just a play, it's just a play' Fox repeatedly told himself in attempt to keep him from acting rashly.

Finally, it came to the point of the betrayal. The stage cleared except for the background which stayed the same, a warehouse made into a house. Two sets of six females came out as well as the Betrayers. This confused Fox, until the music started.

_**And now the Six Merry Murderesses of the Lilac County Jail in their rendition of the Cellblock Tango!**_

**_Tektites  
Pop _**

Lazulite  
Six

Jadeite  
Squish

Diamond  
Uh uh

Almandine  
Cicero

Zoisite  
Tipschitz!

Tektites  
Pop

Lazulite  
Six

Jadeite  
Squish

Diamond  
Uh uh

Almandine  
Cicero

Zoisite  
Tipschitz!

Tektites  
Pop

Lazulite  
Six

Jadeite  
Squish

Diamond  
Uh uh

Almandine  
Cicero

Zoisite  
Tipschitz!

ALL  
He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had himself to blame  
If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it

Almandine  
I betcha you would have done the same!

Tektites  
Pop

Lazulite  
Six

Jadeite  
Squish

Diamond  
Uh uh

Almandine  
Cicero

Zoisite  
Tipschitz!

**_  
Tektites  
You know how people have these little habits that get you down? Like Jasper. Jasper liked to chew gum, no not chew, pop. Well I came home this one day and I am really irritated and looking for a little sympathy and there's Jasper lying on the couch, drinking a beer and chewing, no not chewing, popping. So I said to him, I said, Jasper, you pop that gum one more time… And he did! So I took the shotgun off the wall and I fired two warning shots, into his head._**

__

He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had himself to blame

If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it  
I betcha you would  
Have done the same!

He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had himself to blame  
If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it  
I betcha you would  
Have dome the same!

**_  
Lazulite  
I met Garnet quang from Lilac City about two years ago and he told me he was single and we hit it off right away. So we started living together He'd go to work, he'd come home, I'd  
mix him a drink, we'd have dinner.  
Well, it was like heaven in  
two and a half rooms.  
And then I found out,  
"Single" he told me?  
Single, my ass. Not only  
was he married  
...oh, no, he had six wives.  
One of those Dino-Cenarians, you know. So that  
night, when he came home, I mixed him  
his drink as usual.  
You know, some guys just can't hold  
their arsenic.  
_**

**_  
He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had himself  
To blame  
If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it  
I betcha you would  
Have done the same  
He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had himself  
to blame  
If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it  
I betcha you would  
Have done the same! _**

Tektites, Lazulite, Jadeite, Zoisite  
Hah! He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He took a flower  
In its prime  
And then he used it  
And he abused it  
It was a murder  
But not a crime!

Almandine and Diamond  
Pop, six, squish, uh-uh  
Cicero, Tipschitz

Jadeite  
Now, I'm standing in the kitchen  
carvin' up the chicken for dinner,  
minding my own business,  
and in storms my boyfriend Slate,  
in a jealous rage.  
"You've been screwin' the milkman,"  
he says. He was crazy  
and he kept screamin',  
"you been screwin' the milkman."  
And then he ran into my knife.  
He ran into my knife ten times!

****

Pop, Six,  
Squish,Uh-uh,  
Cicero,Tipschitz  
Pop, Six,  
Squish,Uh-uh,  
Cicero,Tipschitz  
Pop, Six,  
Squish,Uh-uh,  
Cicero,Tipschitz

If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it  
I betcha you would have done the same!

Diamond  
Mit kersek, en itt? Azt mondjok,  
hogy a hires lakem lefogta a ferjemet en meg  
lecsaptam a fejet. De nem igaz, en artatlan  
vagyok. Nem tudom mert mondja  
Uncle Sam hogy en tettem. probaltam  
a rendorsegen megmayarazni de nem ertettek meg...

Jadeite  
Yeah, but did you do it?

Diamond  
UH UH, not guilty!

Almandine  
My sister, Ruby and  
I did this double act  
and my husband, Jet,  
used to travel round with us.  
Now, for the last number in  
our act, we did these 20 acrobatic  
four, five...splits, spread eagles,  
back flips, flip flops,  
one right after the other.  
Well, this one night we were in Cicero,  
the three of us, sittin' up  
in a hotel room, boozin' and  
havin' a few laughs and  
we ran out of ice.  
So I went out to get some.  
I come back, open the door  
and there's Ruby and  
Jet doing Number Seventeen-  
the spread eagle.

**_GIRLS  
He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had  
Himself to blame.  
If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it tricks in a row,  
one,two,three,  
I betcha  
You would  
Have done  
The same!  
He had  
It coming  
He had it coming... _**

Well, I was in such a state of shock,  
I completely blacked out. I can't remember a thing.  
It wasn't until later,  
when I was washing the blood off my hands  
I even knew they were dead.

They had it coming  
They had it coming  
They had it coming all along  
I didn't do it  
But if I'd done it  
How could you tell me that I was wrong?

Almandine  
They had it coming  
GIRLS  
They had it coming  
Almandine  
They had it coming  
GIRLS  
They had it coming  
Almandine  
They had it coming  
GIRLS  
They took a flower  
Almandine  
All along  
GIRLS  
In its prime  
Almandine  
I didn't do it  
GIRLS  
And then they used it  
Almandine  
But if I'd done it  
GIRLS  
And they abused it  
Almandine  
How could you tell me  
GIRLS  
It was a murder  
Almandine  
That I was wrong?  
GIRLS  
But not a crime!

Zoisite  
I loved Zircon, Tipschitz,  
more than I can possibly say.  
He was a real artistic guy...  
sensitive... a painter.  
But he was troubled.  
He was always trying  
to find himself.  
He'd go out every night  
looking for himself  
and on the way  
he found Ruth,  
Gladys,  
Rosemary and Irving.  
I guess you can say we broke  
up because or artistic differences.  
He saw himself as alive  
and I saw him dead.

GIRLS  
He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had  
Himself to blame  
If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it  
I betcha  
You would  
Have done  
The same!

ALL  
The dirty bum, bum, bum, bum, bum  
The dirty bum, bum, bum, bum, bum

Tektites, Lazulite, Zoisite  
They had it comin'  
Almandine, Jadeite, Diamond  
They had it comin'  
Tektites, Lazulite, Zoisite  
They had it comin'  
Almandine, Jadeite, Diamond  
They had it comin'  
Tektites, Lazulite, Zoisite  
They had it comin'  
Almandine, Jadeite, Diamond  
They had it comin'  
Tektites, Lazulite, Zoisite  
All along  
Almandine, Jadeite, Diamond  
All along  
'Cause if they used us  
'Cause if they used us And they abused us  
And they abused us  
Tektites, Lazulite, Zoisite  
How could you tell us  
Almandine, Jadeite, Diamond  
How could you tell us That we were wrong?  
That we were wrong?

He had it coming  
He had it coming  
He only had  
Himself  
To blame.  
If you'd have been there  
If you'd have seen it  
I betcha  
You would  
Have done  
The same!

Tektites  
You pop that gum one more time!

Lazulite  
Single my ass.

Jadeite  
Ten times!

Diamond  
Miert csukott Uncle Same bortonbe.

Almandine  
Number seventeen-the spread eagle.

**_Zoisite  
Artistic differences. _**

ALL  
I betcha you would have done the same!

Fox looked on, intrigued by the complication of the story being told. At the moment, a beautiful black lynx, playing the part as Tektites, spoke the lyrics of the song. Behind her, a red jackal and another black lynx acted out the situation which the words that were being recited. Their movements were like the waters of a flowing river, graceful, elegant, one led right into another without any pause or indecisiveness. Than Fox nearly choked as the next speaker came out, it was Krystal. Of course he knew she had been playing the part of Lazulite, it just chilled him to the bonethat she spoke such violent words with this much conviction; either she was a superb actress, or she had a side of her that he had never seen before. He could see her blue eyes spark with annoyance and bitter humor. Nothing he had ever seen before seemed so real, this was no act.

The dancing continued, each murderess told their story with a calm sense of indifference towards the deaths that they caused; whether it was an act or not, none of the Lylatians could tell. Finally, it was over, the crowed around them stood and gave their applause; loud and rewarding, it was clear that the performance was held of high approval.

As the clapping died down, the performers drew their show to an end. Dino-Cenarians were ether executed or banished of to Cauria; the show had come to its close.

Krystal was nervous, how would Fox and her other friends react to the play? Would they be convinced that both her and her people were complete monsters? Or would they decide that they were better off without her on the team? Was she even going to stay on the team? She knew that they couldn't stay here forever, but just having found her family, was she willing to leave them behind? If she left would she ever see her parents again? If she stayed here though, would she ever see Fox and all her Cornerian friends in the future? What were even her options? Would she be welcome back home after being away for so long? And would she be allowed back on the Great Fox after their Cerinian education was complete; and knowing her parents and close friends the way she did, they wouldn't let them leave until they were sure that they had taught her Lylatian friends all that they could. She barely heard them come up to her; she was so lost in thought. A warm, gentle paw placing itself caringly on her shoulder brought her back to reality. Turning, she found herself staring deep into Fox's bright, majestic, emerald eyes. Krystal could have stayed comfortably in that position, just gazing into the vast and inviting pool of green if it wasn't for someone else who had other ideas.

"Krystal!"

Out of nowhere, a pair of wings were wrapped around her, the force nearly toppling her over. A few minutes passed before she was released, but once the arms let go, Krystal knew who the perpetrator was.

"Pearl, I haven't seen you in forever!" she cried.

Once again, Krystal found herself being embraced by her long lost friend. When they separated, she finally got a good look at her. Tall and some-what athletic, although not so much as Krystal, the white feathered swan was pretty much the same as she was when she left, except maybe more gracefully in her movement; but, still, just as bouncy as always.

"I can't believe Jade forgot to tell me that you were home! You have no idea what it's been like having to deal with Citrine by myself! It's worse than trying to talk and eat at the same time, not as rude but still, you get the idea. Not only that, but I have to be the one to calm Crimson every time she goes into a fit! That's just not sane; we were never that close before and we certainly not now! Have I ever told you that you are probably the only person I know that actually has a brain? There's no talking sense into anyone around here! By the way, I can't believe that I haven't gotten to talk to you before this! You know what, I bet Jade hasn't even told you half of the things that have been going on here for the past few years; some of it is completely mind boggling! How long have you even been here anyways? Girl, what have you been doing lately? You look fit to be crowned world's most underweight vixen! You had better not have been doing anything to put yourself in harms' or I swear with help from the Murderesses I will kick your ass so hard, it won't even be funny!"

"Umm, Pearl? Pearl, umm? Hold on, Pearl do you think you could slow down a bit? Pearl?" Krystal desperately tried to get her feathery friend to stop talking so she could introduce Fox, but the white avian was on a tangent.

'Um okay, this is awkward.' thought Fox as he tried to understand what this new old friend was yapping about. How had she not noticed him yet? The swan had barely even stopped talking to take a breath.

"I bet she and Katt would be good friends. She may have found someone who can match her for the amount of time spent talking." Falco whispered to him.

Finally after what seemed to be ages, the new girl noticed the seemingly out of place vulpine Lylatian and his partners.

"Krystal, why didn't you tell me that you had someone for me to meet?" she asked.

"I tried, but you talk faster than a machine gun spits out bullets. Now that you're ready to listen, Pearl I would like you to meet my friends Fox, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco."

"Wonderful! It's so nice to meet you all!" she shouted gleefully.

Fox found himself immediately being squeezed almost to a pulp as he received a gigantic, bone crushing hug.

'Well, at least I know that she's friendly. I wonder if it is possible to die from being over-hugged.'

At last, Pearl let go, the sudden loss of pressure against his back caused him to lose his balance, sending him toppling into Krystal. He heard snickering behind him and a male voice seemed to be making a sarcastic comment, which was followed by a sting of curses from Krystal. Willing himself to look down, Fox found himself on top of the cerulean female his paws inadvertently had gone in front of him to break his fall, or in this case, on Krystal's abs since she was underneath him. Blushing, he realized that their legs had also become twisted together and his head was about a foot away from resting on her chest; not a good position to be in if one was trying to keep themselves from appearing too over-eager for a romantic relationship. Than, their eyes locked and for a moment, Fox forgot about the rest of his team staring at his back, waiting for him to get off. Those beautiful turquoise orbs made his mind turn to mush and his limbs to jelly, so bright and so full of life; they packed an emotional punch to his heart and usually left him speechless for a good remainder of the remaining part of the day.

"Fox," Krystal whispered to him softly, to him her voice was that of a waterfall, so melodic, so soothing.

"Fox," she whispered again. "Could you please get up, you're kind of too heavy for me to hold up."

"Oh, right umm sorry about that. Here, let me help you up." Fox stuttered fast, extremely embarrassed. Gently, he pulled her off the ground and to her feet; she smiled warmly at him, much to his surprise as he was expecting a smack on the head or something. Instead she just straightened her loincloth, fixed her tail rings and acted as if nothing had happened; only the understanding glance in his direction indicated that she knew of what had just occurred.

* * *

Krystal was aware of Pearl chatting away to her, but in truth, Krystal wasn't paying much attention to what was being said, she was too busy with her own thoughts.

A speedy dart of the eyes in Fox's direction told her that he still felt upset over the accident at the playhouse, something she wished that he wouldn't take so seriously. Maybe than, it would be easier for her to deal with the mixed emotions that were running rampant inside of her; part of her wished that it had never happened, while part of her wanted for them to have stayed in that position for a longer while, at least until she figured out what to do about an emotion that she could only describe as double love.

Before she knew that her homeland still existed, she was positive that she was in love with Fox; she thought nothing could change her mind, but she was wrong. Faced with visions from the past, her head filled with memories, some pleasant and some not quite as nice; memories that included long lost feelings about a long lost someone, a someone known as Jade. Countless times in her childhood, she could remember being teased or pranked by Citrine or Crimson, and each time Jade was there with a smile, a chuckle, and a helpful, caring hand. He and Pearl were two of the few in her classes at elementary school who would be her friend for who she was, not what she was. Her heart was torn, who did she love? Jade or Fox? The charming Rainbow Guardsman who would eat lunch with her outside the noisy cafeteria and help her keep a sensuality-crazed Midnight at bay, or the Lylatian mercenary-hero who would teach her how to dodge laser fire in an arwing and stand up against a flirtatious Panther trying to lure her into an unwanted chain of events?

"Hey, Krystal? Hello, Cerinia to Krystal, come on Krys wake up! That's it wake up or I'll give Midnight permission to start talking about our school days, now snap to!"

Pearl's threat broke her out of her deliberation, there was no way in hell that she'd let Midnight talk about school, not when she wasn't sure about how she felt, what with all the stories of her and Jade together. If she did love Fox, she did not want to accidentally drive him away before she found out.

"Aww come on Pearl, what's so wrong with those stories?" Midnight whined

"Nothing except the fact that they're freakin' embarrassing!" she shouted

"What's so embarrassing about a little Survive in Truth, Die in Dare? Hey, we should play show you guys that tonight!" he exclaimed to Fox enthusiastically.

"Survive in Truth, Die in Dare? I don't want to know, do I?" Fox questioned worriedly. He was hoping to live long enough to someday settle down out of the mercenary business although he had a feeling that if he wasn't careful here, that dream wouldn't come true.

"Don't worry, it's really only truth and dare. We just named it that because Midnight has a tendency to make the dares extremely embarrassing." Pearl reassured him." Unless it's actually possible to die from humiliation, than you should be fine."

'Just wonderful' was all Fox could think.

"Okay, who wants to draw a card? A Murderess card is gender-separate groups and Betrayer cards are co-ed groups." Crimson explained

"What's the difference?" Slippy questioned

"Basically what type of questions and dares are permitted." was the answer.

Both Jade and Krystal drew two cards; three out of four were Murderesses, which left Krystal, Pearl and Crimson in one group and Fox, Falco, Slippy, Jade and Midnight in the other. The groups separated and went their own ways.

In Krystal's room, Crimson and Pearl were drilling her for answers, neither one challenging anyone else but her.

"So, Krystal," Pearl started, "Truth or Dare, Survival or Death? Remember you can 'hide' if you don't want to answer the question, but that counts as a dare."

"Truth." Krystal decided immediately.

"Alright than, hmmm, how much have you really told your new friends about Cerinia?" she pressed.

Ashamed, Krystal hung her head, it was considered rude to your family to be upset with your heritage without the resolve to fix the problem a.s.a.p. Not once had she tried to face up to it with her friends and she felt guilty.

"Nothing." she whispered.

Noticing her friend's sad demeanor, Pearl spoke up, "It's okay Krys. I don't know if I could have either." she admitted, smiling understandingly.

"Thanks Pearl."

"Okay, my turn," Crimson announced, "Krys, Truth or Dare, Survival or Death?"

"Truth." she chose again.

"So, tell me Krys. True or False, and be honest because I'll know if you're not; you like your new friend Fox, don't you?"

Shocked, Krystal's mouth nearly dropped open, "What!" she gasped amazed that Crimson would even ask that so soon.

"Okay, so here's how it works. One of us will ask another person the question: Truth or Dare, Survival or Death? Whoever is being asked will have to decide. If you choose truth, than you'll have to answer whatever question is asked. If for some reason you don't feel comfortable answering you can say 'hide' and it counts as a dare. For dare, at the end of this match-up, the two groups will meet back up and a dare will be formulated; how many dares you took is the amount of time you must spend doing the dare, the measure of time will be decide when the dare is decide; okay?" Jade asked after explaining the rules.

All heads nodded in agreement.

"Okay than, let's see. Midnight, Truth or Dare, Survival or Death?" Jade challenged.

"Truth."

"What truly happened to make Crimson so mad at you?" Jade inquired.

"Well," Midnight began, "For a few weeks, I had been spending some time with Citrine and one day I came home from lunch with her and I found Crimson at my house. When she asked where I had been I told away on business, she took that as the answer, although as the days went by, she stopped talking to me. Today, she called me over to her hut and as soon as I walked in, she started yelling at me, accusing me of cheating with her with Citrine. And before you say anything, I wasn't cheating; we had actual business matters to discuss." he insisted.

"Okay than your turn." Jade told him.

Midnight thought for a while and than a wicked grin spread across his muzzle. "Alright Fox, Truth or Dare, Survival or Death?"

"Umm, Truth I guess." Fox answered

'Although from the look on his face it probably would have been wiser to say dare.'

Midnight's grin widened further, "Fox, I can tell you have something going on with Krystal, what's really going on?"

'Shit!' he thought to himself, his fur began to burn a deep red.

"Well, ummm, there's nothing going on, I umm really have no idea what you're talking about so umm, yeah, there's nothing going on." Fox stuttered, blushing fiercely, he was past the stage where orange fur could help hide his blushing.

"Right, you know you can just hide if you want." Midnight suggested as Jade just started cracking up.

"Yeah," Fox said sheepishly, "Maybe I'll just do that."

It was an hour later when the two teams met up again; Midnight had four dares, Crimson had three, Falco had zero as did Slippy, and Pearl and Jade had one and two. Both Krystal and Fox however had been the target of embarrassing queries leaving them with seven dares apiece.

"Okay, the dare had been chosen!" Crimson publicized.

"Hey!" Krystal exclaimed, "We didn't get a say!" This worried her; if both she and Fox didn't get a say in the voting that means someone had something planned, most likely Midnight or Crimson, not good.

"Here's how it works, each closet is in the closets four rooms have been labeled either A, B, C, or D. A person draws a slip of paper until everyone has chosen. Than you will go and stay in whatever closet you picked until the alarm clock you are given rings, signaling that your required amount of time is over. The time is measured in hours, Krystal pick one first."

"Krystal drew a slip and than went to find her assigned closet, closet A.

'I hate when they choose this dare.' she grumbled to herself as she settled down in her closet. 'The last time we did this, Midnight had rigged it so we got stuck together. I had to stay at the ready armed with my staff the whole five hours. At least this time it's in my room so my staff is right here with me in case I need it.'

About five minutes later, the door creaked open and a figure slowly crept in. The new person reached out to find his way around and that's when Krystal smacked them on the head with her staff.

"Midnight, don't you dare come any closer! I swear this is not funny! You have really pissed me off!" Krystal threatened.

Fox carefully opened the door to closet A. Damn he didn't want to be doing this, but out of politeness he had joined in; besides, if he didn't do as the Cerinians did, than how else would he learn about them? So he did it for Krystal. Blindly, he reached out to feel his way around. Hopefully, he wouldn't be alone for seven hours, maybe than it would not seem so bad.

Of course, he was never expecting to be thwacked over the head with a cold, metal rod.

"Midnight, don't you dare come any closer! I swear this is not funny! You have really pissed me off!" Krystal's voice warned him.

"Yeaowch! Krystal, ummm I'm not Midnight." Fox told her.

Suddenly, the small space was filled with light as Krystal's staff was used to illuminate the area. Fox could see Krystal with a terrified look on her face.

"Oh Fox," she exclaimed, "I am so sorry! God, I'm an idiot! I kind of assumed that you were Midnight since he usually rigs the slips so that he gets put with either me or Crimson. Gosh Fox, I didn't expect it to be you, oh my I am so sorry!"

Instinctively she reached out and touched the spot along his brow where the staff had made contact the hardest with him; her paw was warm to the touch and Fox could feel the heat rise once again to his face.

"Don't worry," he joked, "I'm more of a day person if you know what I mean."

Krystal giggled, filling Fox with immeasurable happiness, that laugh always made him feel excited for some reason. To his surprise, she pulled him closer to her, wrapping her arms around him in a giant embrace.

"I'm glad you're okay. You had me worried there for a minute." she told him.

For the first time in years since they had first met, Fox felt the inability to speak without stuttering come rushing back to him. He smiled at her to let her know that he was fine as he sat down with his back against the wall.

"Fox," came her soft, musical voice with that beautiful accent which he cherished secretly

"Yeah?" he asked

"I was wondering what you thought of the play. It's okay if you didn't like it." Krystal added, noticing the look of trouble that swept across his face.

"No, no, nothing of that sort. It's just that, well, I feel sort of bad I guess because I feel like I should have understood more of it, you know because of…." His voice trailed off as his eyes dropped down as if there was something about the light blue carpet that they just had to look at.

"Fox, that's okay, really you have no reason to feel bad. You want to know something?" she asked.

"Sure what?"

"It took Pearl, Crimson, and me at least ten tries before we finally got the concept through to Midnight. The poor guy had no clue what was going on until Crimson performed a little, shall we say, demonstration."

"Really?" Fox asked intrigued. "What kind of demonstration?"

Krystal giggled again at the memory, "For every time in the story a Betrayer gets killed, she'd tease him with food than when he'd reach for it, she would hit him over the head."

Fox started laughing at the image. Before he knew what he was doing, he had reached over and grasped Krystal in a comforting hold, drawing her closer to him until they were as far away as they had been when they had fallen in the theater. He almost stopped breathing when she snuggled herself closer to him and leaned her head on his arm using it like a pillow. There they sat, arm in arm, making conversation with one another peacefully without any disturbances by anyone. Soon, Fox found himself relaxing as he and his gorgeous partner talked about old times they had had with each other had those that they had known before one another. Peeking down, he could see Krystal starting to dose off and to make her more comfortable he began to rub her shoulders, easing her into a sedated-like state. Sleep over took him soon and he fell fast asleep with Krystal wrapped lovingly in his strong arms. His last thought before he stretched out was the notion of satisfaction which he had gained from talking things over with Krystal.

Maybe that game was not such a bad idea at all.

* * *

Thanks! Remeber to r&r! I know this was probably really confusing so if anyone needs to have something from the play explainedthan send me a PM and I'll try mt best to explain it.

Once again I am sorry that the chapter took so long, it was the longest I have ever written though, about 23 pages on Microsoft Word! Candy for me! ) See ya and r&r!

_**  
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	6. Where Art Thou Cauria?

**Author's Notes: Just aheead of time, the word barkta is another Cerinain word which I created. It means something along the lines of a love interest** **or a boyfriend/girlfriend.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Where Art Thou Cauria?

_The Great Fox floated out alone in empty space, the blackness suffocated the giant fighter as would the cold grip of death on the happy spark of life in the eyes of a murdered infant. Aimlessly, it wandered, not really searching for anything, it just wandered silently almost as if it was devoid of life, almost. _

_Inside, an orange-furred, adult fox was setting the table for two, careful to make sure not to forget anything for this was not just any meal, it was a miniature date._

'_More of a mock date than anything else; God, I wish we could have actually gone somewhere! I hope she likes what I've cooked.'_

_Those were the thoughts of a certain vulpine mercenary as he waited for his love-interest, the forever stunning vixen Krystal. Soon though his thoughts were crashed by a wind of bad news._

"_Might want to set that table for one less than two, Foxy-boy." a man said, the tone indicating that pain was to follow._

"_What do want?" he asked, with a sinking feeling in his gut._

"_Nothing just thought I'd drop by to let you know that Krystal the Desired is no longer yours. She has come with me and we will be happy together unlike you; but that shouldn't matter because you are not fit for her anyways. You are a mercenary and a Lylarian while I, like she whose attention we both crave, am a Cenerian and a do-gooder. Now enjoy that lovely dinner, don't worry I'm sure you'll be able to find some whorey skank to share your dinner with." explained the voice, leaving no doubt in the young fox's mind to whom he was speaking to._

"_Jade." he growled angrily. How dare he come and blow off his feelings for her so carelessly. _

_The screen of the COM link lit up to reveal his arch-rival, Jade the Valiant of the Guardians of The Rights. Green in color and fox in species, he was everything Fox was and more. Brilliant, kind, selfless, and courageous were only some of the titles which he had been given by the People of the Unknown System. Sir Fox McCloud, Wanderer of the Dark, was only known as an odd-ball, he was not the normal topic of discussion for the good People of the Unknown. _

_Both men had one thing though that made them alike, their undying love for a certain maiden. Lady Krystal, daughter of the Queen of the Unknown, often called Krystal the Desired or Krystal the Elegant by her admirers, of which there were plenty. To many, she and Jade were a perfect match; she of high rank and deserving of an excellent partner. Although lately, she and McCloud had bonded, for she being the gentle and unbiased women she was had started a friendship with him while most wouldn't bother recognizing him because of his low rank in society. So now, it was a fight for her heart and unfortunately, they were not the only ones who had their eyes set on the beauty._

"_I'd be careful, Jade; overconfidence can make you susceptible to attack. The princess is coming with us!" yet another male claimed._

"_For who would not love us, the duo of Lust and Sensuality?" his partner added_

"_Damn you Lord Midnight! Damn you Monsieur Caroso! I curse you all and say damn you a hundred times! And a thou more times after that!" Jade roared "Neither of you shall lay a hand her lady's person or so help me Goddesses of thy murders I shall hunt you down and bring an end to thou pitiful and polluted existence!"_

"_Now now, thou shan't go 'bout making thee appear rash, in a manner of speaking, when thine word is taken so personally by those whom which thou serve." Monsieur Caroso pointed out in an attempt to put Jade the Valiant in a belittling position so as to keep himself from falling victim to the young warrior's wrath. Luckily for him, Jade calmed down for at least the time being._

_The same could not be said for Sir Fox the Merc. A concoction of anger, sorrow, and jealousy swirled around within his being, to the point where which it seemed that he would explode in a literal sense. And explode he did, in a figurative way. _

"_None of thou shall go any further! Back I say, back all of you! Wherein hath thou been all this while? Don't thine know when enough is enough? How dare thou come by and try to pass off lust as love; for her Lady Krystal, she who holds my heart in her power and whose dazzling beauty proves morality to be repulsive in comparison, deserves and is entitled to a lover of eternal devotion and utter adoration, one who worships the ground upon which she walks. Can thou offer her such, or are thy thoughts only for yourself and thy wishes? I swear on my Honor and Pride, I shan't let thou harm her in any such way so long as I have a beating heart and a conscious mind."_

"_And who are thou to doubt our feelings, McCloud? What is your aim in all this?" Jade exploded, "For all know that thou has neither heart nor power; thou has no interest except to better thy own life. Once done, I shall not be surprised if thou find thyself pushing the beloved vixen out of thy heart! That shall not happen so long as I am able! Be prepared to face thy opposition!"_

_Immediately after, the dreadnought ship shook from a barrage of laser fire blasting against its hull. Fox ran to the flight deck, and hopped in his lone, beaten fighter; The Arwings. When he reached the dark abyss of space he was greeted by hostile swarms of lasers, it was a fight for love, and the stakes were high._

"_Don't think we're going to let thou get away with this!" Lord Midnight's voice crackled over the COM as he and his partner joined the fray._

"_Yes," came a hiss, "Panther does not like the opposition getting ahead of themselves. Thou shall meet an untimely end." _

_Now, Fox found himself in a rut. Both Panther and Jade were firing on him while Midnight was busy attacking Jade. All the other men seemed to hold a grudge against him. Why; he had not the faintest idea. A wing fell off, he was sure that his ship wasn't the only thing broken; it felt to him that his ribcage was torn apart from the constant, erratic beating of his heart. Only red was visible to him as the ship's alarms rang wildly, shields down to five, he had no where to go. Blaring in his ears now, the alarm was at its peak making him cringe in pain. Suddenly, his vision went black._

Fox shot up straight, breathing heavily and gasping for air. Sweat poured down his face, dampening his fur making it sticky. The past night's occurrences came flooding back, memories hitting him one after the other like bullets. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ohh man, it was just a dream. Dang it all, I have got to stop letting Slippy make us watch those creepy space medieval movies. I am never watching those again, that was just too weird."

As if on cue, out of nowhere a loud ringing noise much like the alarm in the dream started going off. The door in front of him opened to reveal Falco and Midnight laughing their heads of at his confusion.

"Relax Foxy-boy," Falco managed to stutter in between laughs, "It's just the alarm clock. You've been in there four hours longer than necessary."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Fox inquired

"The game, Fox. Last night, remember?" Midnight asked

Fox nodded, of course he remembered, like he would forget being locked in a closet with Krystal for more than seven hours.

"Good," Midnight said, a knowing smile creeping onto his face," We'll just leave you alone then."

As soon as both of them were out of the room, Fox sighed and rubbed his face with his paws; now what the heck was he supposed to do? Looking around, he couldn't help but admire the splendor of Krystal's bedroom; the sapphire blue carpet and walls reminded him of her; the silver bedding, and metal shimmered, accenting everything else perfectly. The dark wood furniture gave it a very natural feel; the whole place yelled Krystal completely and it made him feel lonely.

"Good morning, Fox." called out a quiet, feminine voice.

"Fox jumped, surprised. He hadn't expected anybody to be in there with him. Turning to face the sound, he found Krystal leaning on the doorposts of the closet, staff in hand.

Feeling embarrassed, Fox found it once again hard to speak,

"Oh, uh...hi. What, um I mean…yeah, good morning to you, too." he stuttered.

Krystal gave of a warm, caring smile that Fox could have sworn would have lit a dark room like daylight. Twirling her staff, she looked at him with her big, emerald eyes filled with happiness for the first time since they had landed on her home planet.

"Why Fox," she giggled, "Shy are we? You know me better than that! In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would say you weren't Fox at all." the vixen joked. "On a more serious note, how was your night? I'm sorry about Midnight; he gives everyone a hard time."

"Oh, don't worry," he assured her hurriedly, "It's okay, he wasn't giving me much grief."

"That's good although I doubt it. You still haven't answered my question, though. How did you sleep?"

'Dang!' Fox thought. That was one question he wanted to avoid if he could. Aside from not wanting to disturb her with his dream, he was a bit, no very embarrassed about the other night. Sure he did nothing too wrong, but than again, he had never slept that close to her before. Actually, he had never been that close to any woman before, but no other female had ever mattered to him as much.

"Oh, uhh that right, last night was, I slept fine," he stammered. Not wanting to stay on the subject, he quickly changed the discussion, "How long have you been up?" he questioned.

"Not long, I just came back to retrieve my staff, I remembered something I'd like to show you, come on!" Krystal encouraged, dragging him by the sleeve.

"Hold on, Krys!" Fox huffed as he feverishly tried to keep up with the running vixen, "What's so important that makes us run like we had Sharpclaws on our heels?"

"I can't tell you!" she teased, "Than it wouldn't be a surprise!"

Finally, Krystal came to a halt in front of a massive, ornate double door.

"It's through here." She said.

Slowly, she opened the doors, revealing a magnificent garden filled with so many different types of plants. Krystal led Fox through the maze of beauty, stopping when she reached her true destination.

Before them, a vast, crystal clear lake, more calm than anything Fox had ever seen. Around the lake, thousands of flowers bloomed, casting a brilliant, glowing reflection on the surface of the water.

Fox gasped, the sight was stunning, the colors of the shining gems in the center of some of the flora sending dazzling beams of color into the air as the system's sun's rays hit them. He recognized those flowers to be the same kind he saw on Sauria while using Krystal's staff. Curious he inquired about them,

"Krystal, aren't those the same flowers that were on Sauria?"

The cerulean vixen nodded, "Those are Cerinian flora stones. They provide temporary power to our tools, kind of like Cornerian batteries, except their origins are a bit more magic based."

"Temporary? Than how come in order to use your staff, I had to equip it with these stones in order for it to work?"

"Well, the staff's main source of energy for the different types of attacks that you used, is the Cerinian power stone which is the gem at the top." she explained, touching the sapphire blue crystal that adorned the tip of her hand-crafted weapon. "After a while, it runs out of energy and has to recharge. In battle, that's not very convenient, so when it was discovered that the stones that grow on a certain type of plant can supply our weapons with power until it's fully charged, our tools were adapted to use the energy from the flora stones temporarily while the power stones charge."

Fox shook his head in agreement; he finally partial understood what was going on, "But that still doesn't explain how they got on Sauria!" he exclaimed, confused.

Krystal smiled, successfully able to stifle a giggle, he looked so cute to her when he got confused, when he scratched his head and threw his hands up in frustration, he looked like an innocent and childish kit, "Let me explain…"

_Before the great explosion that sent Cerinia flying through space to the spot is in now, the planet was orbited by a lone moon known as Cauria. Back when the Dino-Cenarians were exiled, they were forced to take up residence there. After a few years, no one heard much from them the last time the two groups had interacted was on the day of the exile when the ruthless Dino-Cenarian leader, Chepsak vowed to one day return and claim the land and lives that were rightfully his. A while afterwards maybe two generations after as a tribute to the murderesses and the war, for a week with the guidance of the Guardsman, people could travel out to Cauria and visit a Cerinian shrine that was built long before the war. Later about a generation before ours, odd occurrences began to take place. Cerinians who would go would come back mentally ill, physically ill with no causes, or they wouldn't come back at all. Some ships picked up recordings of the old Dino-Cenarian leader giving speeches that he had given during the war. After that, trips to Cauria were banned. The ban was repealed soon after, but not many went anymore. On my twelfth birthday, I asked my parents for permission to go to Cauria; they said yes. I went alone on the journey except for a ship of four Rainbow Guardsmen which followed me. We had only gone a few feet into our trip when in my pod, I felt a shock pass through, rocking the ship like a wave to a boat. Worried, I tried to contact the Guardsmen ship, but all I heard was static. A few minutes later, there was a huge explosion; from my window, it looked like the planet had exploded; I saw a huge flash and than nothing remained, the planet was gone as was the ship that had been following me. Convinced that my home had been destroyed, I let my pod continue on the course which had been set on autopilot for Cauria. Eventually after a few years, I landed on what I thought was Cauria. Because the autopilot was sensing what Cerinians call an object's natural pulse, which all tangible things in the world have; living beings have many pulses, heart rate, emotion, and any inborn powers are just a few examples; Cauria had pulses of magic among other things that kept it the way it was, I landed not on Cauria but Sauria, the dinosaur planet. _

"The events that follow are ones you know very well. I later found out that what people thought was Sauria's moon which collided with the planet, was actually Cauria, the ancient Cerinian moon. Those Sharpclaws seem to have been descendants of the once floating Dino-Cenarians. I've come to believe that the explosion of the Guardsmen ship is a result of one of the odd occurrences many Cerinians have experienced when visiting Cauria before."

"Well, that explains a lot." Fox chuckled sheepishly, "I think Pepper may have been right, 'It's always the same with you Fox,'" he grumbled, in an impersonation of the old hound, "'Shoot first, think later. We're trying to save the planet, not blow it up.'"

To Fox's delight, Krystal found his to be hysterical and she began to giggle uncontrollably. Her melodic laugh rang out and Fox's grin grew wide as he began to think of other ways to make her laugh, his senses greedy for the sweet sound of her laughter.

"Looks like a party, mind if I join you guys?" a joyful, masculine voice asked.

"Jade!" Krystal yelped as the green fox came up from behind her, startling her, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

He smirked, "I'm sorry Krys. I just wasn't sure whether it was okay to join seeing as you looked pretty occupied with what you were doing. You know I try and be polite when it comes to barging in on a woman and her barkta." With that he winked at her, her face instantly turned purple from all the blushing that she was doing.

"Jade!" she moaned, "Not you too! I already have Midnight nagging at me, isn't that enough?" Krystal bat her eyelashes, giving her green friend a pleading looking, attempting to look innocent.

"Sorry," Jade apologized sincerely this time, "Anyways Krystal, I just came by to tell you that you have a visitor who wants to talk. I think it's important."

She nodded than went off to deal with whatever it was, leaving Fox and Jade alone.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Anyways I know it's not the best, but the next will be better. **

**Also in other exciting news, only two more chapters after this one! After that...something else, but I won't tell you yet.**


	7. Getting Closer to the Truth

**A/N: Just to let you know, -jikka is a Cerinain term of endermaent, it's when whomever is talking puts -ikka after the first letter of their name so if Jade was talking to Krystal, it would be jikka, if it was Fox, it would be fikka, and than so on. It ****usually follows after the name of the person spoken to. **

**Also, the song in this chapter, or part of a song, IS my own so I would apperciate it if no one uses it unless I give them permission. I wrote it for this story and I would hope people would be kind enough to respect that and not plagerise or steal it. I f you see someone using it without mentioning that it was my song, I would like you to let me know. Thanks!**

**Anyways, hope you like this chapter!**

Chapter 7: Getting Closer to the Truth

"So," Jade began, trying to be friendly to the Lylatian fox, "You and Krystal seem to be close, more than just teammates from the looks of it."

Fox blushed, "Yeah, I guess….maybe."

'Damn, why does everyone bring this up?' he thought.

"You know," the Cerinian continued wistfully, "It's kinda funny, I would have never expected Krystal to become a mercenary, yet it isn't really all that unexpected. I would have thought she would be more of a military type, because of the loyalty factors and all the bad rap given to the mercenary. But," he shrugged, "That's Krys for you, always amazing even the people who know her. Guess it's just runs in her family."

"Yeah, she is a whirlwind of surprises." Fox agreed, thinking back to all the times she had proven herself worthy of being the team's official telepath.

Both just sat for a few silent minutes, taking in the beauty of the life that flourished around them. Jade began to shift around nervously, almost as if he had something to hide or that he was ashamed of. Finally, Fox's curiosity got the better of him and his nervous politeness.

"Something on your mind?" he wondered out loud.

Sighing, the green vulpine warrior shrugged his shoulders, "I just can't believe it, that's all. Who would have thought that Krystal would come back with barkta and a future so different than she thought when she was little?"

"You know I have no idea what that is." Fox complained.

"What," Jade inquired, "A barkta? It's Cerinian, means something along the lines of a love interest or a boyfriend or girlfriend, depending what gender it's being directed to."

He scratched his head, "I still don't think I understand. Who are you talking about?"

That's what Fox said, however his mind was reeling, 'Wait a minute, does he think that we're a couple? That's insane; we've never been more than teammates. I mean, hell I'd love to be more than that, but I'll face that facts, there is no way she'd ever feel the same! Is there…could there be?'

Jade just shook his head and sighed, "All I'm saying is Fox be careful. I know you're leaving soon and Krystal will want to continue being on the team; please take good care of her, for me and for the rest of her family."

Fox nodded, "I'll always try."

"The day she disappeared, I never thought I'd see her again; Krystal was like a sister to me, always so supportive and caring." he looked Fox in the eye, "After the first two days, almost everyone was convinced that she was dead; I tried to be hopeful and believe otherwise. And now, that attitude has paid off, she has come back to me, almost."

Jade's sober demeanor left no room for continuation of the conversation; both felt a mutual sense of competition and friendship. The ice had finally been broken, and the waters while a bit unsteady, held room for both.

'And things were beginning to become clearer. I was so close to being ready to talk to someone, now I can no longer.'

She let out a sigh, it had only been a few hours early that Krystal had been ready to spill to Fox; she had been ready to let him help her through her problems. Now she couldn't without there being the possibility of making him feel betrayed and unloved; the last thing she ever wanted to do to him.

'Remember, Krystal, young one,' echoed the voice in her head, 'The threat is close; the danger is real. You may have to choose between Star Fox and your duty as the youngest living descendant of the First Murderess. May you choose wisely, dear."

But that was just it, she didn't want to choose! Why couldn't she help her people and stay with Fox and the others?

'Because little one, it is not their place to interfere unless Fate deems them worthy to become entangled in our struggle.'

The Oracle's words drove her mad; this wasn't the time to be hassled by ancient curses or historical legends. Now was the time were she was supposed to enjoy everything; her life, her friends' company, Fox's cute mannerisms.

"Krystal, are you alright?" Fox asked, breaking her thoughts.

Krystal let out a quiet yelp, when did he get there?

"Yes, yes I'm fine," she assured him, thankful that he wasn't telepathic.

He raised an eyebrow and she had to stifle a laugh, "Okay….. If you say so. You just looked kinda like you had been sentenced to death row or something. Krys, you know you can talk to someone if you need to."

'Yeah right, in my dreams.' she thought

Krystal just shrugged, not really wanting this talk to go any further. It seemed to get her message across. Fox leaned over and gave her a quick hug, and than left her alone to her thoughts.

"Okay that's it Krys, the gig is up! I caught you red-handed, and you are so busted!"

"Ugh, what is it now, Crimson?" Krystal grumbled.

Without a word, Crimson dragged her to her own home and pushed her down into a chair. Looking up, she could see Crimson, Peal, Midnight, and Citrine facing her, hungry for answers.

"Well now what do we have here?" Citrine asked with false sweetness in her tone, "Krystal, with a boyfriend, other than Jade? Please, if you're trying to make me laugh, Crimson, it's really not working. Of course she is with a Lylatian; besides Jade, they're the only ones who would take her!"

"Watch it, Citrine!" Krystal warned; the yellow furred lupine female was still the same as before; bitter, vain, and a serious grudge-holder. From the looks of things, Krystal guessed she still wasn't over the fact that Jade hung out with her rather than Citrine when they were younger, not like that was her fault anyways.At that time in her life, she hadn't been looking for love, just a friend as was Jade.

"Whatever," Crimson huffed, "That's not the point, the point is that you Krystal are finally going to admit it! You are in love with that McCloud and don't even think for a minute about lying to me because I'll know if you are!"

"Why do you guys care?" Krystal yelled.

"Because: first off, we are nosey, Krystal you know that!" Crimson told her, "Have I ever been able to not know the full details of something?"

Midnight coughed meaningfully, obviously in disagreement.

"Shut up, Midnight," Crimson continued, "Two, it's driving you crazy. Three, everyone, excluding a certain somebody," she finished, sending a glare in Citrine's direction, "actually do care about you so open up!"

The vixen hung her head, it was talk now, or never leave the building, especially since Crimson was involved, "I don't know; I don't know if I'm in love. I used to think I was, but that was when I thought Cerinia was no longer; I was convinced that, that…"

"That Jade was no longer an option?" Midnight filled in for her.

"I suppose you could put it that way. I know that either way, I still deeply care for both, I just have no idea who is better for me and I don't want to make a mistake and end up hurting one of them."

"Krystal," Pearl suggested, "Why make your decision now? It's not like anyone's forcing you to. I'm sure that if they both want you to be happy, they'll understand that you need some time to collect your thoughts, figure out where and how everything stands in your life. Things get out of proportion when a major shocking event happens, like finding out that your family is still alive after so many years believing you were an orphan; Krys it's only natural."

"I suppose you're right," Krystal sighed, "Just with the possibility of staying behind when the rest if the team leaves, I don't want to offend them in anyway."

"In the end," Crimson acknowledged, "It's your choice what you do. I just think that you would feel better if you talked to one of them about everything.

Would this be the last time she saw Debenon, the sun that shines on Cerinia, cast its reddish- purple shadow over the sky before the cloak of dark night blanketed the planet of the Six Elements? Or would she stay here and miss the bustling activity of the streets of Cornieria and the silent nights spent aboard the Great Fox, just the team their friendship.

"I don't know; what do you prefer?" someone whispered to her.

Krystal swirled around; behind her, Jade stood out of his Rainbow Guard uniform, he looked almost exactly as he did when they were kids. She sighed, her last wish was to talk to someone, especially Jade or Fox; her mind was still too muddled, life was more complicated than a spider's web spun from strong material, yet as easily broken with a swish of the hand or in this case, a wrong word.

"Krystal," Jade murmured nearly inaudibly, "You can't hide your feelings forever; please, tell me what's wrong."

Krystal looked away from the tall fox, ashamed and unwilling to talk. It wasn't until recently that she had begun to miss him. Back on the Great Fox, when her mood had changed, he was the one she had been thinking of. The day before Pepper had contacted the team with this mission, she had been saying a silent prayer to both the Elements and the Murderesses for help; she didn't know whether she would have been able to emotionally hold out any longer, dealing with the pain of losing many loved ones and than not being able to share the deeper emotions with new family.

"Krystal, please," Jade begged again, "Please, tell me what's wrong, we've always been able to talk; don't let these past years change anything between us. Krys-Jikka, I have to know, if anything, is there anything I can do to help! I want to know; please?"

"Jade…" Krystal began, but stopped instead, bursting into tears. Grief overwhelmed her, threatening to take over her in all her entirety. Tears rolled down her face in a downpour, eventually falling off and onto her paws which covered her facial features having been buried where no one could see them. Subconsciously, Krystal felt Jade bring her closer, yet she paid him no heed; choosing to continue releasing the pain of sorrow. No longer could she fight the already losing battle against emotional and mental pain that had been pestering her first for the years following the accident, and then they began to torture her for the past month or so, eventually making living a chore.

Silently, she stayed like that; the only sound to be heard was the innocent chirping of the nearby birds. After a while to ease tensions, Jade began to hum. Soon, Krystal began to sing along with the tune; one of an old Cerinain song all children learned in the younger grades.

_**What looks like flowers but smells like fear?**_

_**That everyday comes closer than near?**_

_**If we don't back away,**_

_**What will we do?**_

_**What can we do?**_

_**We can do anything**_

"I see you remember that, too." Jade murmured.

"What," Krystal snapped back, "You think I forgot everything? Not a chance; the opposite in fact. I remember everything all too well. It hurt to keep those memories, Jade. Don't you think I cared? What is with you?"

The instant the words popped out of her mouth, she felt guilty. He had meant no harm; he was just concerned for her, as he always was.

"Jade I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that."

"No, it's quite alright, I deserved it." he conceded, "I shouldn't have doubted you like that; I guess I'm just mixing concernment with j…confusion, sort of."

Krystal nodded, "I can understand that," she told him, "I myself am a little confused, too."

Jade raised an eyebrow, "Anything you care to explain?"

"I don't know it's just that I'm not sure of what to expect from Fox as a reaction to Carinosiva. My expectations would have been that they would have freaked out at the thought of celebrating murderers, but instead he did nothing. It makes me think something's wrong that there's no reaction instead of something, any reaction would have eased my mind." Krystal leaned against his broad shoulders, looking up at the Cerinian constellations that were scattered over the night's sky; pulsing brightly just as the street lights back in Corneria would have, except these provided a much more natural glow, soothing and beautiful to look at.

"Well," Jade decided, "I don't really know what their reasoning is. The best way would be to ask him if you're so concerned. But Krystal, I don't think there's anything to be to scared of; somehow I don't think Fox is the kind of person to judge one because of their family's past."

"But how do I explain to him that I may need to stay behind? I drag him here, put him through all the holiday activities, than tell him that I can't be apart of the team anymore? That's just rude and I can't do that to him."

Silence followed as Jade had no answer for that. Both enjoyed each others' company, reminiscing on their childhood, of all the times they had spent at this exact spot together.

Soon, Krystal left him alone at the waterside for her warm bed at home. The green fox stayed seated in his spot, gazing first up at the stars, and the constellation of Grace as it sat elegantly besides the symbol for the First Murderess. His head than hung facing the glassy waters of the lake; his broken reflection staring back.

'He'd better not judge you! If he hurts you I swear on my murderess, I kill him. I'll skin that damn fox and his crew if they do! Krystal, why did you have to leave me?'

* * *

**A/N: I know it was short, but it has a purpose. The last chapter should be posted soon. After that, another story will be on it's way:...Survival of the Other Half.**

**Sound sort of familliar? Wonder where I've heard 'Other Half' before? **

**Also, I still can't decide whether this should be Fox and Krystal or Jade nad Krystal. I'm leaning towards Fox and Krystal, but I'm not sure. What would you like to see?**

**-General Darkcat **


	8. Until Future Times

Chapter 8: Until Future Times

Krystal's eyes snapped open at the sound of chirping blue jays.

'Today's the day.' she thought to herself. That afternoon, the Star Fox team was headed back to the Lylat System; it was also the day where some of Krystal's greatest fears would either be disproved or confirmed.

Slowly, she dressed for the day, and than paused; would Fox take the Cerinian outfit to mean that she was staying and would he be offended? But what if she was to remain here; the Oracle still hadn't contacted her in terms of whether she would be needed or not.

'…unless Fate deems them worthy.' Worthy, how were they not? They were, in Krystal's eyes, brave, loyal, kind, and always eager to help. She sighed, Fate was odd.

In any case, she supposed an explanation would be needed. Sitting at the desk that once had been a spot for reading about the mysteries of Debenon's rays, she began to write a letter which she hoped she would never have to deliver.

Fox paced nervously, it was getting closer to departure and he had only seen Krystal once that morning. He had greeted her warmly but her response was cold and almost sad. They had barley spoken to each other since their talk in the garden and truthfully, it was a bit unnerving to him just how far she had gone to distance herself from him. What did he do this time?

"We can't thank you enough." Azure informed him.

Fox and company were ready to leave the planet and so while Krystal's parents were reluctant to see her go, they agreed and settled for giving their warmest goodbyes.

"Krystal dearest, know that you can come back whenever you please." The king reminded his daughter.

"I know, Father, Mother." Krystal nodded almost tearfully.

She turned to her friends and one by one bid them farewell.

"I guess I'll see you sometime in the future?" Jade asked

Krystal nodded, "Yeah, I guess…"

Sadly she turned away.

"Wait up!" someone new yelled.

A young male, yellow lynx came over to the group, huffing for breath. Silently, he handed Krystal a envelope which she quickly tore into.

Her heart rate quickened as she scanned the letter. The Oracle had decided and there was no going back. Facing Fox, she inhaled nervously and spoke,

"I'm sorry, Fox," she whispered, "I can't come with you."

"What, what do you mean?"

"I'm sorry!" she cried, tears threatening to form at the edges of her eyes.

Jade quickly recognizing this embraced her. He whispered something in her ear while the others continued to load their belongings onto the ship.

"Fox," a soft voice said behind him.

He whirled around to see Krystal.

"Krys," he inquired, "What's wrong? What happened?"

She said nothing. Instead, she chose to hug him tightly, clinging onto him for what seemed like forever. Blushing, Fox stepped back and looked at her expectantly, but no explanation came. With one last goodbye the blue vixen walked off with the lynx leaving him to return to Lylat without her.

Fox leaned against the steel siding of the Great Fox, head down. What had he done; what had possessed Krystal to stay behind? Shoving his paws into his pant pockets, he slouched further against the wall, not sure what to think. Shivering at the cold air that blew by from the air conditioning system, the fox pulled his vest closer until he felt something bulky press up on his chest. Reaching into the inside pocket, Fox pulled out a large package. Curious, since he hadn't put it there, he gingerly opened it; a letter fell out and he began to read:

_Dear Fox,_

_If this letter is in your possession, that means I am not coming back along with you to Corneria. Please know that this decision has nothing to do with you or the team. I felt it all along and I can feel it now even as I write, there is something amiss; at the very core of life and death, past and present, Will and Fate. My people may be in danger, and as a born Cerinian, I must do my duty and help; I know you would do the same for your home. Do not doubt for a second, every waking moment I will miss the company which you provide; you are an irreplaceable part of me, your friendship is one I will always treasure. _

_That being said, I knew I couldn't let you leave without knowing that when I needed your companionship the most, I would be able to reach you no matter how far apart we are. Along with this letter, is a Cerinian power stone, one much like the stone in my staff. As long as you have that with you and I have my staff, we can communicate using their energy._

_Even with that, I will still miss you, but I know that one day we will be together again. One old Cerinian saying quotes: The distance between two is only as far as is allowed; miles away we may reside but forever, side by side we shall be._

_Keep this in mind and I know one day, we will meet once more._

_Remember Forever,_

_Krystal of Cerinia _

_Official Star Fox Member_

_As long as I am able_

Next, he reached deeper into the envelope, pulling out a crystal. The sapphire blue crystal gleamed magnificently in the halogen lights of the ship, reminding him of Krystal. With a sad smile on his muzzle, carefully he slipped the jewel back into his vest and walked off now with confidence; she had a job to do and so did he.

And one day, they would be together again.

* * *

**A/N: This is it, the last chapter! I know it was short and not as detailed and I'm sorry. There is good news though (and it has nothing to do with car insurance if you're wondering ;)) Instead...**

**Coming Soon: Survival of the Other Half**


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